Antoine Terrel 11:22 am, October 16, 2021

On Europe 1, epidemiologist Didier Pittet reviewed the evolution of the coronavirus epidemic.

This fall and winter, "the epidemiological conditions will be much more conducive to transmission," he warns. 

INTERVIEW

While the health situation continues to improve in France, should we already consider that the Covid-19 epidemic will soon be a thing of the past? The government has in any case decided to avoid any reckless trial in the event of an epidemic resumption, by extending the possible use of the health pass until July 31, 2022. If this decision is criticized in the opposition, it is rather approved by the doctor and epidemiologist Didier Pittet, invited Saturday from Europe 1. "We must have this tool in our toolbox", he believes , before recalling that the virus "will not go away". 

"That the virus will never disappear, it is practically certain", indicates the professors at the university hospitals of Geneva.

"Our main scenario is that probably it will just join the other four coronavirus families that we have lived with for hundreds of years and for which we all have antibodies ... This is probably the path we are heading towards. let's move in a few years. "

Watch out for the arrival of autumn and winter

But, he warns, "in the meantime, this virus is not going to disappear. It will certainly cause small infections, small colds, small things that we catch with our grandchildren, for example, in the future, for example." . What about vaccination? "" We can not yet say that we have any certainty on the fact that it is necessary to repeat the vaccination each year ", specifies the doctor, who insists on the other hand on the importance of the recall for the most fragile. 

In the short term, should the arrival of autumn, then winter, raise fears of a resurgence of the coronavirus epidemic?

"The epidemiological conditions will be much more conducive to the transmission of this virus", recognizes Didier Pittet.

"We are going to have more and more life inside. There will be all the other respiratory viruses that we will continue to transmit if we do not apply the barrier measures. So yes, we are moving towards an autumn that is not going to be a normal fall. "

Also, he adds, "the more people we have vaccinated against Covid-19 and against the flu, the less risk we are of overloading health systems or simply of having a slightly more complicated life".